57: Uncovering the Story of Caroni, Trinidad's Legendary Closed Distillery with Steffen Mayer

In this episode, we sat down with Steffen Mayer, who spent the last five years writing the ultimate book on Caroni (Caroni: 100% Trinidad Rum). Caroni, of course, is the legendary Trinidad distillery that closed around 2003, leaving behind a cache of aged rum that subsequently became some of the most sought-after rum in the world after bottlers like Velier built up its legend. And that's before getting to the rum's entirely unique flavor profile.

Steffen took us through his journey of writing the book and shared insight after insight that he learned from the 100+ interviews he conducted, including:

• Why Caroni closed

• The truth about Caroni using Jamaican rum in some of their blends

• Which distilleries around the world have used Caroni rum in their blends

• Why the value of Caroni's aged rum was so heavily disputed following its closure

• Caroni's use of neutral spirit in its blends

• The differences in Caroni's rum marks (and which ones are more worth seeking out)

• Where Caroni's "dirty" notes come from

• The most memorable interviews and tasting sessions he had while writing the book

• And much more!

Here are links to some of the retailers carrying Steffen's book:

https://www.armagnac.de/products/caroni-book

https://www.whiskyboeken.nl/en_GB/a-72158467/library/steffen-mayer-caroni-100-trinidad-rum/

https://www.whiskytempel.de/shop/caroni-100-trinidad-rum-volumne-1-2-book-by-steffen-mayer.html

https://www.spiritacademy.it/en/libri/caroni-book-100-trinidad-rum-5030.html

https://www.whisky.fr/en/steffen-mayer-caroni-100-trinidad-rum.html

P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.